Hat sizing machine



M y 1960 A. KENNEDY, JR., ETAL' 2,936,507

HAT SIZING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1956 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 Mm H . e a m m m i n 1 Wk? 13%; 3? A Q%%@ 2. a mam an 'l'ho Lorenz Henry L q 2 ar BY z INVENTOR Kennedy c/n, L Z

8 Sheets-Sheet 2 HAT SIZING MACHINE A. KENNEDY, JR, ETAL May 17, 1960 Filed July 26, 1956 I and nbronn ATTORNZY w m aLflq/ m y 1960 A. KENNEDY, JR. ETAL 2,936,507

HAT SIZING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 26, 1956 INVENTORS Chef-hen, Manned, Jr, Lo-rznzo d- QlalamJ, Ht :1 r L If: r and q'ao'r gz dns'fembf'cnn' ATTORN May 17, 1960 A. KENNEDY, JR., AL 2,936,507

HAT SIZING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1956 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVEN 1 ORS (Inf/logy Loren o Qolama, Hcnr L. Kirk and.

Gear c (6 .Sfe'nbronn Kennedy (/11 May 17, 1960 A. KENNEDY, JR, ET AL 2,936,507

HAT SIZING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 26, 1.956

INVENT'OR-S anl'hon g farmed (In, Lorenzo d. Cldami, H8"?! L. Kl'r by and Gear c. d. sfd-ll'lbrafllh BY ATTORN y 17, 1960 A. KENNEDY, JR., ETAL 2,936,507

HAT SIZING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1956 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR: an 'f/mn yd/fenn ed (/11,

Lorenzo qda'rrui, Henry! l frrb and Geo-r cf. 5 r'nbronn ATTORNEY May 17, 1960 Filed July 26, 1956 A. KENNEDY, JR, ET AL HAT SIZING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 arr/110m, Larcnzc l-lcn-l'y L. l'fn'kgy and.

Gee-r e d. .Sfcvnlaronn BYWb/%CM ATTORNEY May 17, 1960 A. KENNEDY, JR., T AL 2,936,507

HAT SIZING MACHINE 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed July 26. 1956 A & 11

PUP

HAT SIZING MACHINE Anthony Kennedy, Jr., Moylan, Pa., Lorenzo J. Adams,

. Norwalk, Conn., and Henry L. Kirby, Upper Darby, and George J. Steinbronn, Philadelphia, Pa, assignors to John B. Stetson Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 26, 1956, Serial No. 600,345

13 Claims. (Cl. 28-8) This invention relates to 'a sizing machine for shrinking and felting hat bodies and the like.

. After a felt hat has been blown upon the forming cone it may be dipped into scalding water and then given a preliminary manipulation or otherwise treated to harden it sufficiently for safe handling. The hats in this early form of manufacture are referred to as bats and the blowing and shrinking of the bats are carried on in the back shop. Although certain machines and processes have been developed to carry on the shrinking with the bats folded flat, the more generally used machines and processes include first the placing of several of the bats superimposed in a cloth such as burlap, flannel, or other material and rolling them by hand into a roll or bundle and in some plants these bundles, while saturated, have been rolled and worked by hand and in others, machinery has been used to shrink the bats. The bundles are then unrolled and the bats rearranged in them and again rolled up, and a further treatment given to them. This process is repeated a number of times until the bats attain the desired size for further treatment.

When these felting operations are carried on by machinery, although the same machine may be used for reducing the size of the bat through separate stages by various adjustments, it has been found more practical to use different machines with different formations on the rolls between which the bundles of bats are rotated to effect the sizing. Also the initial sizing operations must be carried on fairly gently in order not to injure the bats, but after the bats have become somewhat integrated they can withstand the harder treatment which is usually applied in order to speed up the felting or shrinking process.

, The construction of the invention shown in Patent No. 2,892,242, June 30, 1959, is preferably intended for shrinking the bats in their earlier stages. The construction of the instant application is intended to work harder upon the bats and to shrink or size them more quickly.

The objects of the instant invention are to render the felting or sizing operation more automatic, to relieve the operators of the continued necessity of manipulating the machine, to enable the operator to change the pressure used in working the bats and to make it possible to vary the timing of the shrinking or sizing operations for which the machine may be set.

Since the pressure applied by the rolls to the bundle of bats is considerable, the removal of the bundles from between the rolls automatically and without stopping the rolls more than is essential, is among the objects of the instant invention. It is desirable both for the prolongation of the life of the machine and for the continued smoothness of its operation, that the machine operate as continuously as possible and for this reason it is one of the objects of the invention to stop only one of the three sizing rolls, leaving the other two continuously operating after the machine is started for the days work.

stopping of this one roll makes it possible to raise nite States Patent the bundle upon that roll by the action of the other rolls and to push it from that roll and the machine by ejccto fingers.

Another object of the invention is to so time the actuation of the roll stopping and the operation of the ejector fingers as to give each bundle of bats a predetermined period of work or sizing, and to vary this time depending upon the type of fur and the various other elements that determine the desired timing of the rolling or working for each operation of the instant machine.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the felter of this invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view from the right in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevational view with the front casing of the machine removed.

Figure 4 is an elevational view of the right side of the upper part of the machine with the door of the casing open.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 from the left side of the machine.

Figure 6is a sectional view from the right side of the machine with the side of the machine removed.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view across the top of the machine with the top of the casing removed.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the belt tightener for the adjustable roll.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic view for the wiring diagram of the machine.-

In the drawings similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The sizing machine 1 rests upon a platform 2 and the machine is enclosed in a casing 3 which completely encloses its working parts except for the opening 4 into which the bundles of bats are placed and from which they are ejected automatically. In front of the machine is a work table 5 having hand cooling tanks 6 for the operator supplied with water through pipe 7.

The work engaging parts of the machine are enclosed in the casing 3 and are completely cut off from the rest of the machine by the drain partition 8 which drains through the outlet 9. Baflles 10 confine the throw of water from the lower transverse frame supports 11. The machine has similar supports 12 at the top, the forward one being a T beam. These supports hold the side frames 13 of the machine firmly together.

Within the machine are two bat bundle supporting rolls 14 and 15 and upper pressure roll 16. Rolls 15 i and 16 are preferably metal and are provided with lags 17. Roll 14 is preferably of wood and it has there around a spirally wound rope 18. As the bundle of bats rotates between the rolls as shown at 19 in Figure 6, the lags 17 on rolls 15 and 16 bear into the bundle and the rope tends to work the bundle length-wise and may work it over to shield 13 supported on and adjacent left frame 13.

Rolls 14 and 15 are mounted on the shafts 20 and 21 in bearings in the side frames 13 of the machine, and roll 16 is mounted on the shaft 22 mounted in bearings in side members 23 Whihc are adjacent the inside of the side frames 13 of the machine, pivoted on the bearings of shaft 21. On the upper edges of these members 23 is a ribbed cross bar 24 aflixed thereto by screws 25. This cross bar has centrally thereof a cradle 27 carrying a threaded trunnioned bearing 28 through which passes screw 29 which extends through a smooth bored trunnioned bearing 30 and is rotatably. heldthere:

in by collars 31. This screw 29 may be turned by h Wheel 32 projecting through the front of the machine. Screw 29 may be held in its adjusted position by inserting a pin 29 through a hole through trunnioned bear ing 30 and the center of the screw. The trunnioned bearing 30 is supported in cradle 33 on front T beam support 12. It will be apparent that rotation of the hand wheel 32 moves the members 23 backward and forward and consequently varies the pressure of the roller 16 upon the bundle of bats.

Bar 24 has forwardly projecting therefrom brackets 34 which are held thereon by screws 35. These brackets support bearings 36 for ejector shaft 37 to which is attached ejector fingers 38 by means of blocks 39 to which the shaft and fingers are affixed by means of set screws. Bearings 36 are held spaced by tie rods 45 and are adjustable in slots in the brackets 34 by set screws 41.

These ejector fingers are curved as shown in Figure 6 and pass around the lags on roll 16 which are cut out at the center as shown at 42 to make way for the fingers. Shaft 37 pivots in bearings 36 on brackets 34 and is held by collars 4'3 and the blocks 39. Shaft 37 has thereon an angularly fixed link 44 to which is pivotally attached link 45, connected to the armature 46 of the electromagnet 47 supported on bracket 48 on bar 24. A block 4% on bracket 48 intermediately supports the link 45. It will be apparent that current passed to the electro-magnet 47 withdraws the armature 46 and link 45 and throws the fingers 38 outwardly to the dotted line position of Figure 6.

Shaft 29 of roller 14 has on its right hand end magnetic clutch 49 through which the shaft is connected by chain 55 to the sprocket 50 on shaft 2-1 which is driven by means of another sprocket 51 thereon by chain 51' connected with the motor 52 in the base of the machine. Shaft 21 passing through the machine has at its other end sprocket 53 which drives chain 54 passing around sprocket 55 fast to shaft 22 to drive roll 16. It will be apparent that by this construction roll 16 is constantly driven with and from the drive for roll 15. Member 23 has a projecting bearing 56, projecting through an arcuate slot in the left hand side of the machine and on this projecting bearing is clamped an arm 57 carrying a chain tightening sprocket 58, the tightness of which may be adjusted by changing the position of the arm 57 and tightening it by set screw 59. The left hand end of shaft 20 has thereon an electric brake 60.

Hot water is sprayed upon the bundle of bats through means of pipe 61 entering the machine through pipe 62. This pipe 61 may be so positioned as to limit the rearward movement of the fingers 38 as shown in Figure 6. These fingers are swung backward by means of counterweight 63 and counterweight 64 projecting integrally from left hand collar 43, which are attached to rod 37. Steam and moisture from the machine are Withdrawn through the hood 65 on which suction may be placed.

A light source 66 is on the right hand side of the machine and a photo-cell 67 is on the left hand side of the machine. This light source and photo-cell are so positioned that a beam passes diagonally between the rolls as shown in Figure 9 and upon the interruption of the beam by a bundle of bats being placed in the machine, it is fed between rolls 14 and 16 by a greater surface speed of roll 14, the timer 68 in the control cabinet 69 is started, which in turn throws out the clutch 49 and places on the brake 60 a preset time thereafter.

Upon throwing out the clutch 49 and placing the brake 60 on, roll 14 stops suddenly while rolls 15 and 16 continue to rotate. This sudden stopping of roll 14 permits the bundle of bats to be raised by the lags on rolls 15 and 16 so that the bundle rolls around the stationary roll 14 and might come to rest on its crest except for the action of the ejecting fingers 38 which serve to pushthe bundle from the rear as shown in Figure 6 off the roll 14 and out of the machine. The light beam is then re-established, which de-energizes the electromagnet '47, the fingers are drawn down by the counterweights, also the brake is then released, the clutch connected and the machine is ready for another bundle.

The precise timing of the magnetic brake and the magnetic clutch in relation to each other and the actuation of the ejector fingersin relation to the stopping of the roll may be set as desired through the control cabinet 69. The ejector fingers operate momentarily after roll 15 stops, to give the bundle time to be raised by rolls 16 and 17 onto roll 15. Start and stop buttons are shown at 70 and a motor reset starter is shown at 71, should the motor have stopped automatically because of over heating.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made wtihout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising spaced means to opositely depress spaced portions of hat bats passing therebetween, means to vary the spacing between certain of said spaced means, means to progress hat bats across said depressing means, a light source and a photo-cell positioned to pass a light beam therebetween adapted to be intercepted by the passage of hat bats between said spaced means and means to limit the period of the operation of the depressing means on the hat bats after the interception of the light beam by the hat bats and means to withdraw the hat bats from the depressing means at the end of the period of operation thereof, said last named means including means to stop the operation of certain of said progressing means.

2. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising spaced means to oppositely depress spaced portions of hat bats passing therebetween, means to vary the spacing between certain of said spaced means, means to progress a hat bat across said depressing means, a light source and a photocell positioned to pass a light beam therebetween adapted to be intercepted by the passage of a hat bat between said spaced means, means to withdraw the hat bat from the depressing means, said last means including means to stop the operation of certain of said progressing means and means to actuate said last named means and the withdrawing means within a selected period after the interception of the light beam by a hat bat.

3. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a plurality of spaced rolls between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, two of said rolls being positioned to support the bundles of bats, means to rotate at least one of the rolls, all of the rolls being adapted to rotate in a common direction while a bundle of bats is therebetween, means to quickly stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll while supporting a bundle of bats, means to detect the presence of a bundle of bats in rolling position between the rolls and means to actuate the stopping means within a predetermined time after the actuation of the detecting means, whereby the bundle of bats is partially raised on the stopped roll, from between the rolls.

4. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a plurality of spaced rolls between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, means to vary the spacing between certain of said rolls, two of said rolls being positioned to support the bundles of bats, means to constantly rotate one of said rolls, all of the rolls being adapted to rotate in a common direction while a bundle of bats is therebetween, means between the rolls to detect the presence of a bundle of bats in rolling position between the rolls and means actuated by the detecting means to eject a bundle of bats from the rolls, said space varying means being operable independently of the operation of the bundle ejecting means.

5. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a plurality of spaced rolls between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, means to vary the spacing between certain of said rolls, two of said rolls being positioned to support the bundles of bats, means to constantly rotate one of said rolls, all of the rolls being adapted to rotate in a common direction while a bundle of bats is therebetween, means to quickly stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll while supporting a bundle of bats, means to detect the presence of a bundle of bats in rolling position between the rolls and means to actuate the stopping means within a predetermined time after the actuation of the detecting means, whereby the bundle of bats is partially raised on the stopped roll, from between the rolls, and means to eject a bundle of bats from the stopped roll.

6. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a plurality of spaced rolls between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, two of said rolls being positioned to support the bundles of bats, means to rotate at least one of the rolls, all of the rolls being adapted to rotate in a common direction while a bundle of bats is therebetween, means to quickly stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll while supporting a bundle of bats, a plurality of arms between certain of the rolls and means to actuate the stopping means and arms to eject a bundle of bats from between the rolls.

7. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a plurality of spaced rolls between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, two of said rolls being positioned to support the bundles of bats, means to rotate the rolls in a common direction, means to quickly stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll while supporting a bundle of bats, means projecting longitudinally between the rolls to detect the presence of a bundle of bats in rolling position between the rolls and means to actuate the stopping means and to eject a bundle of bats from between the rolls a selected time after actuation of the detecting means.

8. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising two lower supporting rolls and an upper pressure roll, said rolls being parallel and spaced to receive therebetween a bundle of bats, means to rotate one supporting roll to move the upper surface thereof toward the other supporting roll and means to quickly stop the rotation of said one supporting roll, means including said stopping means and rolls to raise a bundle of bats from the other supporting roll to the upper surface of the stopped roll, and means to discharge a bundle ofbats from the stopped roll.

9. In a machine as set forth in claim 8 including means to detect a bundle of bats in rolling position between the rolls and means to actuate the raising and discharge means a selected time after the actuation of the detecting means.

10. In a machine as set forth in claim 8 including a light source and a photo-cell positioned to pass a beam of light therebetween to be intercepted by a bundle of bats when placed between the rolls, and means to actuate the raising and discharge means a selected time after the interception of the light beam.

11. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a pair of spaced supporting rolls and an upper pressure roll, all said rolls being parallel and between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, means to support the pressure roll adjustably with respect to one of the supporting rolls to vary the pressure on the bundle of bats, means to rotate the rolls in a common direction, means to stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll, while continuing the rotation of the other rolls, whereby a bundle of bats between the rolls is raised on the stopped roll, and means to discharge the bundle of bats from the stopped roll.

12. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a pair of spaced supporting rolls and an upper pressure roll, all said rolls being parallel and between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, means to support the pressure roll adjustably with respect to one of the supporting rolls to vary the pressure on the bundle of bats, means to rotate the rolls in a common direction, means to stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll, while continuing the rotation of the other rolls, whereby a bundle of bats between the rolls is raised on the stopped roll, and means mounted on the pressure roll adjustable support means to discharge the bundle of bats from the stopped roll while maintaining the adjustment of the support means.

13. In a machine for sizing hat bats and the like comprising a pair of spaced supporting rolls and an upper pressure roll, all said rolls being parallel and between which bundles of bats are adapted to be supported and rolled, means to support the pressure roll adjustably with respect to one of the supporting rolls to vary the pressure on the bundle of bats, means to rotate the rolls in a common direction, means to stop the rotation of the supporting roll whose top surface rotates toward the other supporting roll, while continuing the rotation of the other rolls, whereby a bundle of bats between the rolls is raised on the stopped rcll, ejector fingers pivoted on the pressure roll adjustable support means and extending back of the bundle of bats when raised on the stopped roll, and means to actuate the fingers to move the bundle of bats from the stopped roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 253,565 Warckmeister Feb. 14, 1882 289,243 Eickemeyer Nov. 27, 1883 382,379 Palmer May 8, 1888 1,738,494 Genest Dec. 3, 1929 2,293,663 Rickus Aug. 18, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 853,252 France Nov. 28, 1939 

